Clear communication is an integral skill for any human being. From personal relationships to professional ones, being able to articulate your needs, goals, and expectations of others is what facilitates a productive and growth-oriented dynamic. When it comes to the workplace, clear communication is a primary tool for collaboration and delegation. But expressing your realistic expectations and boundaries clearly is not always easy, especially within the corporate world.
Being afraid of hurting others’ feelings and not articulating clearly enough are just some of the challenges people face in communicating their expectations.
But without communication, no relationship (inside and outside of the workplace) can truly thrive. In this guide, we’ll break down what great communication looks like and how to achieve it.
Define Your Expectations
One of the biggest steps you can take towards clear communication is to know exactly what they are. If you’re unsure of what you expect from others, they may struggle to understand what you require of them.
There are many instances in which you may be required to define your expectations to someone at work. This typically happens more if you are in a leadership position.
For example, if you are a project leader, you may need to inform team members of what tasks they will each be responsible for throughout the project. The clearer you are, the easier and faster it will be for the team to reach its goals.
If you are uncertain about your expectations, take time to think about them and map out what you are going to say. Write down your expectations as a kind of communication template.
Communicate Effectively
Effective communication is communication utilised in the most concise and goal-oriented way possible. By utilising effective communication, you can establish clear expectations with employees or co-workers and streamline the productivity of every project you encounter.
Here are some tips for communicating expectations effectively:
- Use statements – Professional, clearly laid-out statements can outline the exact deliverables and expectations for a project, thus eliminating confusion and getting straight to the point about a project outcome.
- Avoid assumptions – Don’t assume that people will just understand what’s expected of them naturally. They need clearly defined objectives.
- Practice active listening – The more you understand about other’s positions and experiences, the easier it will be to delegate tasks and communicate expectations in an effective way. Use the art of active listening to achieve this goal.
Be Realistic
Another super important component of communication and expectation-setting is to be realistic. Being realistic simply means delegating and communicating with others in a way that is aligned with their true skills and capabilities.
Being realistic about what you expect from others is essential for a healthy and productive work environment.
For example, if you asked an intern to spearhead a new digital marketing strategy, that would be an example of setting an unrealistic expectation. They simply don’t have the experience or expertise required to fulfil that task, and as a result, the project could fail.
You can learn to set more realistic expectations by considering them from the perspective of the other person. Take their skills, level of experience, and current workload into account.
Set Boundaries
Communication and boundaries go hand in hand. When people know exactly where they stand with each other, discussing responsibilities and assigning tasks becomes a much simpler and more cohesive process. This is true in both personal and professional contexts.
Some examples of setting healthy boundaries in the workplace include:
- Communicate your preferred method of feedback – Some people thrive with verbal feedback, and others prefer it to be written or in report form. Learning more about how both others and yourself prefer to communicate can help set healthy boundaries.
- Don’t let others’ moods affect your decisions – If someone is in a bad mood, you may feel tempted to let them cross your boundary just to keep the peace.
- Establish a culture of respect – All work environments should strive to develop a culture of respect and open communication. This will help avoid conflict, boost morale, and promote a healthier, more productive teamwork dynamic.
While being conscious of others’ boundaries, remember to consider your own and how you can communicate them clearly with others for more effective communication.
Follow Through
Once you have communicated your expectations clearly, the next step you need to take is to follow through on them.
That entails holding yourself accountable for the responsibilities you take on and keeping track of other people’s progress on projects – especially if you are in a leadership role. You can hold yourself and others accountable for delivering on expectations by:
- Setting very clear goals – There’s a reason this one comes up so frequently in the conversation of clear communication. The clearer you are about the goals you set, the easier it is to accomplish and track them.
- Giving and receiving regular feedback – Feedback helps teams get on the same productivity and creative wavelength throughout the course of a project.
- Measuring progress – The work doesn’t stop when your project comes to an end. Measuring progress through KPIs and performance metrics helps gain a clearer perspective of how smoothly the project went.
- Celebrating success and learning from failures – Not everything goes according to plan, and that’s okay. But seeing each outcome as either a cause for celebration or an opportunity to improve is a healthy way of following up on collaborations.
Following through and following up are two key factors in clear communication, boundary setting, and establishing realistic expectations – both at home and at work.
Walk the Talk
Both clear communication and realistic expectations are imperative for building healthy relationships and creating a productive, balanced work environment.
Through defining expectations, communicating effectively, being realistic, setting boundaries and actively listening, your professional team can become a productivity powerhouse.
But these tips can be applied to many areas of life, not just a digital agency or other work environment. Practising healthy communication and setting clear goals are both great ways to lead a functional, effective, and growth-oriented lifestyle.